Special restrictions apply: The collection contains some copies of original materials held by other institutions; these copies may not be reproduced without the permission of the owner of the originals.

Collection stored off-site. Researchers must contact the Rose Library in advance to access this collection.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on
reproduction.

Louise Alone Thompson Patterson was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 9, 1901. After the divorce of her parents when she was four, Patterson spent her childhood in numerous western cities. She graduated cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1923 with a degree in economics. She worked various jobs and taught for two years before going to New York City to study at the New York School of Social Work (now part of Columbia University). After completing her yearlong study, she began working as a typist for a number of Harlem Renaissance writers and met poet Langston Hughes, starting a friendship that would last until Hughes' death in 1967. She worked on several projects with Hughes and his artistic collaborator Zora Neale Hurston including Mule Bone, the play that eventually caused the disintegration of the Hurston-Hughes partnership. Patterson also typed the manuscript for The Blacker the Berry, a novel by Wallace Thurman, to whom she was married for a short time in 1928-1929.

Louise's apartment in New York, which she shared with Sue Bailey, was a center of activity during the Harlem Renaissance, the Black cultural and artistic movement in the 1920's and 1930's. She became involved in several projects during this time, including the controversial and unrealized Soviet film project "Black and White," which looked at Black life in the United States.

Louise married prominent attorney William L. Patterson in 1940. A member of the American Communist Party, Patterson organized the Civil Rights Congress. He also worked with actor/singer Paul Robeson. Together Patterson and Robeson delivered the petition "We Charge Genocide" before the United Nations, charging the United States Government with genocide against African peoples. Louise was herself an organizer; she led a march in Washington, D.C. for the "Scottsboro Boys" in the 1930s and headed the ngela Davis Defense FundA in the 1970s. During her adulthood, Louise served with the International Workers Order, the Council of African Affairs, and the National Alliance.

Louise Thompson Patterson died in New York City on August 27, 1999.

Scope and Content Note

The Louise Thompson Patterson papers consist of subject files, correspondence, Langston Hughes materials, William L. Patterson papers, personal papers, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The earliest original items include a photograph of Louise, ca. 1909, and a letter from her mother, written in 1917. The most recent items are dated from the early 1990s. The bulk of the collection dates from the early 1930s to the early 1990s, and provides a relatively complete account of Louise's life, interests, and pursuits.

Of particular interest in the Louise Thompson Patterson papers are the materials relating to the 1932 trip to the Soviet Union, including the files on the "Black and White" film project and the Meschrabpom Film Company. Also significant are the materials pertaining to Patterson's relationship with the Communist Party and files relating to her friendship with Langston Hughes from 1932 until his death. The Harlem Renaissance and the Harlem Suitcase Theatre both of which have close ties to Langston Hughes and to Louise Thompson Patterson, also provide information regarding important aspects of Patterson's life.

Emory University also holds the private library of Louise Thompson Patterson. These materials may be located in the Emory University online catalog by searching for: Louise Alone Thompson Patterson 1901-1999, former owner.

The subject files are arranged in alphabetical order and have been kept as closely as possible to the original order. The files include articles, newspaper clippings, some correspondence and notes, research materials and obituaries. Some correspondence, primarily letters received from people of note, has been removed from the subject files and placed in the alphabetical correspondence series. For continuity of important topics, such as Russia trip and "Black and White" film project, correspondence remains in the subject files. Of particular in this series are files relating to the "Black and White" film project, the Angela Davis Defense Fund, the Harlem Suitcase Theatre, the William Patterson Foundation, and files related to Patterson's trips to the Soviet Union.

The Langston Hughes materials consist of correspondence, writings, and a small group of items about Langston Hughes. The correspondence consists primarily of original letters to Louise Thompson Patterson, 1932-1962, and a small group of photocopied letters from other repositories, 1932-1966. The writings consist of works of drama; poetry, including a number of typescripts signed by the author; and a small number of works of prose, ca. 1937-1949. The items about Langston Hughes include clippings, programs, a broadside, and materials relating to a film project,

Langston Hughes: Poet of the People, which includes the typescript of an interview with Louise Thompson Patterson.
Arrangement Note

Correspondence is arranged in chronological order, and writings are alphabetical by title.

The series consists of writings of Louise Thompson Patterson, materials relating to her Memoirs Project, and a small number of writings about Patterson. Photocopied corrected typescripts of various drafts of Patterson's proposed memoirs comprise the bulk of the series (ca. late 1980s). Also present are typescripts of a number of speeches, many of which contain holograph corrections (ca. 1937-1991); a notebook for her early writings (1920-1930); miscellaneous items of prose, both fiction and nonfiction; and a small group of notes relating to various topics. This series also contains correspondence; research materials; promotional efforts, including fundraising, relating to the memoirs project; and a small number of writings about Patterson.

This series contains writings of William L. Patterson and a small group of miscellaneous personal papers. A member of the American Communist Party, Patterson organized the Civil Rights Congress. He also worked with actor/singer Paul Robeson. Together Patterson and Robeson delivered the petition

We Charge Genocide before the United Nations, charging the United States Government with genocide against African peoples. The writings primarily consist of holograph and typescript drafts of William L. Patterson's book, The Man Who Cried Genocide: An Autobiography (published 1971). It also includes typescripts of a small number of speeches and articles (1960-1969). Other papers include biographical materials, clippings, a small amount of correspondence (1927-1969), and mementos from birthday celebrations (1954, 1966).
Arrangement Note

The personal papers series consists of personal correspondence, including letters pertaining to the birth (1943) and marriage (1961) of daughter, Mary Louise Patterson, and the illness and death of William L. Patterson (1980); obituaries and memorial tributes; Patterson family genealogy; and some of the awards Louise Thompson Patterson received.

This series includes photographs of Louise Thompson Patterson alone (1909-1960s) and with other individuals, including William L. Patterson, Angela Davis, Matthew Crawford, Beah Richards, and Margaret Wilkerson (1917-1994). Also present are travel photographs, including Louise Thompson and other individuals on trips to The U.S.S.R. (1932), Paris (1937), Spain (1937), Uzbekistan (1960), and East Germany (1972). There are also photographs of family members (early 1900s-1983) and photographs of other individuals, including Mary McLeod Bethune, Angela Davis, Beah Richards, and Claude Lightfoot (1931-1971).

The audiovisual series contains audiotapes, tape transcriptions, and a small number of videotapes. The audiotapes consist primarily of interviews by various individuals with Louise Thompson Patterson. The largest number pertains to conversations between Patterson and Margaret Wilkerson of the University of California at Berkeley, on topics relating to the Memoirs Project (late 1980s). Of greatest interest are the interviews before the 1990s, when Patterson's memory of people and events was clearest. Some of the tapes have transcriptions, which are arranged chronologically in the tape transcriptions subseries. The videotapes consist of interviews with Patterson, Patterson's 93rd birthday party (1994), and the presentation of the Fannie Lou Hamer Award to Louise Thompson Patterson in 1991.